Brief communication: Cutmarks on a plio-pleistocene hominid from Sterkfontein, South Africa

Cutmarks inflicted by a stone tool were observed on the right maxilla of St w 53, an early hominid partial skull from Sterkfontein "Member 5" (South Af rica). The morphology of the marks, their anatomical placement, and the lac k of random striae on the specimen all support an interpretation of this li near damage as cutmarks. The location of the marks on the lateral aspect of the zygomatic process of the maxilla is consistent with that expected from slicing through the masseter muscle, presumably to remove the mandible fro m the cranium. Although radioisotopic dates are not available and relative faunal dating of the deposit from which Stw 53 derives is problematic, the morphology of the hominid skull suggests a Plio-Pleistocene age for the spe cimen. This therefore constitutes the earliest unambiguous evidence that ho minids disarticulated the remains of one another. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.